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I won't use the word 'impulsive' to describe myself. At least, not untill I have acted upon an urge and sat down to think about it 
.
I was scouting for ads for used SBKs in Bahrain on 2-3 website when I ran across a distress-sale by a South African expat. A 2008 Suzuki GSX650F with just 6600 km on it, and a very reasonable price. From what the reviews told me, it was a very decent starter bike for anyone foraying into the jorgon-filled scene of SBKs. A call later, I had fixed an appointment to take a look at the bike the same day, in the afternoon.
The bike was sitting under a dusty cover, but once we took it off, it was hard to tell if this baby was just about to complete two years. The owner had fitted a Yoshimura exhaust and promised to give the stock one to me, along with a muffler for the Yoshimura. He started the bike and the underground parking lot filled with sweet music. Once back to office, I thought: damn, I forgot to ask for a test ride. So here we were, back again in the evening, and the roads a little clearer. I took the bike for a half-km spin and made up my mind by the time I was back. The only thing I noticed was that the bike was a little front-heavy and needed some effort to turn at low speeds.
The insurance and registration transfer was completed the next day and I had all the cash I needed to get the bike in my place. Well, not exactly my place, since I had moved to a crappy apartment without a parking lot. I decided to move back to the hotel where I was staying and asked the bike ex-owner to come with the bike there and park it, since a few friends were already staying there. The nice chap brought his bike over, with his wife accompanying in a car and parked it, while I paid the cash upfront. It was a nice experience interacting with the couple, who had been on trips to Oman and other countries with a local riding group here. He even pointed out the good roads on the island to go to for rides. The guy was born in 1956, had a small frame and yet riding a 215kg bike!
Enough yak-yak, now time for a few pics.
Will insert a video as well in a couple of days...
. I was scouting for ads for used SBKs in Bahrain on 2-3 website when I ran across a distress-sale by a South African expat. A 2008 Suzuki GSX650F with just 6600 km on it, and a very reasonable price. From what the reviews told me, it was a very decent starter bike for anyone foraying into the jorgon-filled scene of SBKs. A call later, I had fixed an appointment to take a look at the bike the same day, in the afternoon.
The bike was sitting under a dusty cover, but once we took it off, it was hard to tell if this baby was just about to complete two years. The owner had fitted a Yoshimura exhaust and promised to give the stock one to me, along with a muffler for the Yoshimura. He started the bike and the underground parking lot filled with sweet music. Once back to office, I thought: damn, I forgot to ask for a test ride. So here we were, back again in the evening, and the roads a little clearer. I took the bike for a half-km spin and made up my mind by the time I was back. The only thing I noticed was that the bike was a little front-heavy and needed some effort to turn at low speeds.
The insurance and registration transfer was completed the next day and I had all the cash I needed to get the bike in my place. Well, not exactly my place, since I had moved to a crappy apartment without a parking lot. I decided to move back to the hotel where I was staying and asked the bike ex-owner to come with the bike there and park it, since a few friends were already staying there. The nice chap brought his bike over, with his wife accompanying in a car and parked it, while I paid the cash upfront. It was a nice experience interacting with the couple, who had been on trips to Oman and other countries with a local riding group here. He even pointed out the good roads on the island to go to for rides. The guy was born in 1956, had a small frame and yet riding a 215kg bike!
Enough yak-yak, now time for a few pics.
Will insert a video as well in a couple of days...
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